


nourishment

by JeanSouth



Series: fairytale au [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-31
Updated: 2013-03-31
Packaged: 2017-12-07 03:08:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/743474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JeanSouth/pseuds/JeanSouth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Furihata's father returns home late, with a few minor problems, Furihata can't help but volunteer to fill in to the trek to the big castle and its terrifying host.</p>
            </blockquote>





	nourishment

**Author's Note:**

> prompt link: http://knb-kink.dreamwidth.org/1083.html?thread=155707#cmt155707

Kiyoshi Teppei was not an unkind man. In fact, beyond merely not being unkind, he was a little too free with his favours to the lovely women in the nearby villages, who coveted his big hands and smiling face.

Over the years, as their numbers grew from one (Teppei living his life pleasantly on his own) to four (first Taiga, followed closely by Ryou and Shun mere months apart, and lastly Kouki), it had become easy to understand he could never say no.

As his sons, they were each unfailing kind, but carried in them the mischief that had led their mothers to capture their father's fickle heart. Taiga was too stubborn, for one, and Shun's mouth seemed to run without permission. Even Ryou was extraordinary; with bright fire hidden under the thick layers of shy deference.

It made Kouki wonder just how he'd turned out quite so ordinary. He liked going dancing with the girls in the neighbourhood (and the boys, though he'd never tell), and he liked reading when the fields had no work needing to be done and the animals were fed. He liked feeding the baby sheep shunned by their mother, but most of all he liked tending the garden.

The front of their house was his pride and joy. The house itself was nothing to sneer at, with four pretty bedrooms and a large living room that heated itself with a hot fireplace in the cold winters. There was always food in their kitchen to fill their hungry bellies, but he didn't think it compared to the beauties he'd cultivated with his own two hands.

They bloomed far more than he was strictly sure they ought to. Even in the fresh snows, delicate freesias carried him beautiful scents when he opened his window come the mornings, and large lillies craned their heavy heads as though to see around the corner. But in all his beautiful garden, he was missing one thing: roses.

Near the path around the house, where was a cast-iron archway curving upwards and over, seating the firm gate nicely. He'd always saved the intricate pattern for the day he had lush red roses to plant and coax across the bars.

He finished leaning over a patch of bright yellow flowers when the door to the house swung open, and bags were set on the step. Soon a carriage would arrive, taking their father into the city through the forest and over the big bridge near the mountains. The fields and animals were to prevent more trips from being neccessary; in truth their father had invented a much more practical axel for carriage wheels to rest on, letting them last longer amongst the heavy potholes in the roads of their forests.

As the carriage drew up not a few moments later, Kouki glimpsed his brothers slip in from their various hiding spots.

Teppei opened his arms, and beckoned them closer.

"Is there anything I should look for?" He asked, smile wide on his face. Kouki had no doubt there were certain things he was seeking; he only hoped that he wouldn't come home in the next trip or three with a new brother to look after (for of course he couldn't manage a girl; a girl that smelled nice and would wear his flowers in his hair, scoff at Shun's raunchy, pun-filled humor and Taiaga's obsession with dancing until his shoes wore away - a girl who would talk with him of books and roses). 

They each took their turns, after they spent a moment seemingly thinking.

"A pair of dancing shoes," Taiga said eventually, without a hint of hesitance in his voice. "With thick souls like only the city craftsmen make, the kind that will carry me over the dancefloor for months."

"A book," Shun requested, savouring the words in his mouth as he often did. "You should book it to the nearest store in the city."

"Paints," Ryou murmured out eventually, and looked at his hands as though the amount of paint wasted on them pained him. "In every colour imaginable."

When it came to Kouki, Teppei held a hand up.

"Roses?" He asked, and chuckled low in his throat at the nod he got. Every time he went to the markets, he was sent to seek them out, but their home seemed to not have the flowers described in all of his books. With a last hug for each of them, the four of them watched him go, then each split up to go their own way.

It was a week before any of them grew worried.

"He should have been home yesterday," Ryou worried his bottom lip between his teeth, and for once didn't cringe from the taste of paints right after. The worry seemed to stem the flow of his art, and Taiga rested a hand on his shoulder. 

"I'm sure he's fine. Perhaps he's making us a brother." As one they seemed to grimace, and set about their daily tasks.

There was snow in the next week, before the clattering of hooves finally woke them in the early morning hours. In the hallway he met his brothers, and raced down the stairs as the front door opened to allow their father looking rather worse for wear. By the time he'd managed to calm their questions, he was on the settee with a hot toddy in his hands.

"Calm down," He bade them, and sighed as they finally did. For once he looked tired, making worry flow between them all freely. One big hand stopped their questions until he frowned and opened his mouth again. "On the way back through the forest, a pack of howling wolves scared my horse. As we went past a slope it sped to the side, and caught my carriage on the edge of the cliff. At the bottom we were fine, but I was well and truly lost.

The carriage was hopelessly broken, so I mounted the horse and set to following the north star. I don't know how long I rode, but by the time dawn came I was exhausted, and at the gates of a castle I couldn't even remember stories about. When I touched the gates they opened for me, and the castle itself offered me a room. It fed me and bathed me, and before I left I found a garden that comes close to our own."

At that point he sighed, and scrubbed a hand through his hair. He opened the saddle bag next to him, and pulled a rosebush with closed buds and muddy roots out of it into his hands. Kouki gasped, and reached for it carefully. The gardens must have been far more extraordinary than his own.

"There were so many flowers, I didn't think a rosebush would be missed, but when I dug it up a monster jumped me. It had a yellow eye and a red eye, and red fur all over its body. But its eyes were clouded over, and when I moved away it had to listen to follow me. When I tried to run it jumped me again, with legs bent like a dog's. Its claws started halfway down its fingers, and almost caught me in the face. When I tried to explain, it laughed," The next words were muffled by his hands. "It said, exactly, to send to the son who loved flowers so much that he'd deface another man's garden."

And with the rosebush in his hands, guilt crept up Kouki's throat. Perhaps guilt and being ordinary were his inheritance from his mother. With a nod he stood up, and turned to go and dress himself. He'd asked for one for years; making an apology was the least he could do for one.

"This is nothing but a terrible idea," Akashi complained to the unfortunate souls who'd been trapped with him in the palace. From the table, his advisor Midorima blew an aggravated puff of hot air from his spout. He was a rather attractive teapot, if not an antique. Beside him one of the young paladins, Takao, swished about until he nearly spilled the tea all over the pristine white tablecloth. "I see no way this won't go tragically wrong."

He picked up a tea-cup of a non-sentient variety, and sipped at it. The clawed hands that curled around it were things he'd long-since ceased to notice, but they tapped on the chipped china.

"That's the spirit," Aomine quipped from the mantle, and there was a certain irony in a man who was never on time being a clock. "Keep up thinking the exact way that got you cursed. I don't have a strict preference for being human, or anything."

Strictly speaking, he was right. Once, Akashi had been a peer of the realm; a resplendent prince with fascinating eyes and a mind as deep as the oceans that bordered his country on two sides. He'd also been arrogant, know-it-all dismissive. Many a time a man or woman had come to his court or his offices with suggestions and ideas, only to be dismissed without a single chance to prove themselves. The lesser folk had never had his time of day. With a sigh he set down his cup and stood, smoothing down the out-dated clothing he wore. It had taken him a long time to get modifying clothing right, and he refused to do it again for fashion he couldn't even keep up with.

Just before he let the door close behind him, he caught excited whispers between the room's inhabitants. An early arrival, then.

-

The castle Kouki arrived at was massive. It was a miracle anyone had ever forgotten it, but he wasn't one to question things when he assumed magic was involved. When he raised a hand to the gates, they swung open for him as promised. Every part of the castle's grounds was perfectly maintained, but there wasn't a human in sight. Without any prompting at all, his horse trotted off calmly towards the western edge of the castle. A shiver travelled up his spine.

When he reached the doors and they opened for him too, the insides of the castle were as perfect as the grounds had been. There was red and purple everywhere, with thick rugs on the floors to ward off the chill. Large windows filled with ornate glass allowed the early morning sun acces to the entrance hall and showered him in a soft green colour. The moment he stepped far enough inside the doors swung closed again behind him, revealing absolutely no-one to close them.

"Hello?" He called, and found no answer. Without answer he stepped forwards, taking the stairs one at a time as if he expected to be scolded at any moment for it. When no one had appeared by the time he came to the top, it bolstered his courage into exploring properly. The doors in the halls were locked most of the times he tried them, until one swung open as he rounded the corner. The room was the first one with a bed he'd come across, and it was spectacular in its grandeur.

The bed was easily twice the size of the one he shared with Ryou back home, covered in plush red pillows and soft looking blankets. Thick drapes hung at the sides to keep out the morning sun streaming in through the windows that offered a view of a beautifully maintained set of gardens.

If truth were to be told, the splendor made him feel slightly awkward in his dusty riding clothes, and he cringed to set the saddlebags on the expensive chair. Turning with a sigh, he left the room to explore the castle. By the time he'd felt like he was barely getting started though, the smell of food permeated the castle and the clocks struck seven. As though it knew the time, his stomach growled unhappily.

Kouki followed his nose to the kitchen to appease it, and found nothing but noise in the large, hot room.

"I hope he doesn't have allergies," A teapot with a face fretted, then relaxed slightly as a teacup rested against its side. In any other situation, he'd have been flattered by the attention to his wellbeing. As it was, he was nothing but shellshocked. Before they even noticed him, he sat down on a bench and snatched up the talking teacup, downing the contents in one go. It yelled slightly at the shaking of his hands.

"Put me down!" It called, and he did with careful hands. He'd feel guilty breaking a teacup in such an expensive place, but he'd never sleep again if he killed a sentient one. A large wooden spoon nudged another cup of tea in his direction until he snatched it up gratefully.

"Good thinking, Murasakibaracchi," The walls seemed to say, and of course the walls would talk. Why wouldn't they? With a groan he buried his face in his hands and tried to sort it out in his head. Something leaned against his arm; when he looked up it turned out to be a clock.

"Are you going to panic or can we talk?" The clock asked lazily, as if it had all the time in the world. Something about the casual air was soothing, and he nodded. If nothing else he was willing to listen. "Good. Now, look here. Akashi thinks you're going to like him if he gives you nice things. He's a bit simple..."

When the clock was done talking, Kouki had calmed slightly. His mind still felt like it would quite like to take an extended vacation to anywhere that wasn't filled with sentient crockery, but his heart no longer threatened to pound out of his chest, and the room no longer seemed to be slightly smaller than the inside of his saddlebags. He was also left with the impression that the clock, Aomine's, original assessment that Akashi was quite stupid was rather untrue.

Over tea they'd hesitated a lot, and he was sure he hadn't been told the full story. A terrible tragedy had fallen over the castle a long time ago, and could he not stay a while? Get to know their master? He was almost losing hope in this gloom. They told him how he was undefeated at shogi, knew strategy like the back of his hand, and devoured the library on a regular basis even before the curse befell him. Now, with all the time an immortal noble could have, he was making good work of reading every book. Even without meeting the man, he felt a little intimidated by the knowledge he must have garnered.

He'd stood from the table to make his way to the library, and ignored the calls of the wooden spoon trying to make him come and sit back down. It was early evening, and the castle seemed to take pity on him in the size of it by lighting his way to the library kindly. Halfway there, he realized he hadn't asked what the curse entailed. But he was full of determination to make the best of his stay of the winter, and if he could deal with talking teacups, he could deal with just one noble.

Mind made up, he paused in front of the open library doors, then stepped in closely along the walls. It couldn't hurt to take a look beforehand. He turned corner after corner, finding dead ends and full fireplaces in front of plush chairs. Eventually he found one filled by a body, but in the firelight he could catch glimpses of it. 

The creature was about his height, but he couldn't be sure while it was sitting. Ruddy red-brown fur covered its body and its backjointed legs, with patches of dark pink skin peeking out here and there like bald patches. Its hands looked a gruesome fright, but not so much as its face, which seemed to be made entirely of teeth with a few features sticking out here and there. 

"He really is rather hideous, isn't he?" A footstool asked him plainly, and Kouki's survival instinct bade him be certain the beast hadn't heard before he turned to the speaker. Something was obviously quite wrong if he didn't think it was odd to talk to furniture anymore. The footstool was a pale blue, and looked understuffed and uncomfortable. He nodded hesitantly, and shot it a questioning look. "Part of the punishment, honestly. He can't touch his favourite anything without ripping it to shreds or clawing it to pieces, and he ruined a great many books at first."

The explanation was sound, and made him slightly less weary. If it was punishment, it was unlikely his temperament matched his appearance.

"Ah," The footstool cleared its throat, and moved forward in a way that reminded him of a spider. "It also reflects his personality."

Kouki practically felt the blood drain from his face at the words, but before could make a motion, his presence was announced and all of those teeth turned his way. Mismatched eyes narrowed at him, but the beast beckoned for him to sit anyway. The way he kept eyecontact until Kouki sat - on a chair lower than the beast's, he couldn't help but notice - was rather disconcerting.

"Hello," He tried, with a tremor in his voice and slightly shaky hands. The mild interest he hadn't noticed before seemed to die at his less than impressive introduction, and the beast turned back to the book without returning his greeting. Being dismissed was uncommon to him, and left him at a continued loss for words.

"That's very rude of you," The footstool admonished from its perch where it had managed to get onto a chair. It made a peculiar sight. Akashi turned to look at it with an unimpressed, flat look. "He could be very interesting for all you know."

Though he had no idea how long he'd been cursed, Kouki was privately of the opinion it was very, very far from long enough as the book Akashi had been holding was closed and put aside. It looked thick and old, on a topic he'd never heard of and doubted he would understand if he tried.

"Speak," The beast commanded of him, sounding like broken glass and too many years of smoking. He didn't look like a smoker though, and Kouki wondered if it was another side-effect of the curse, and if it was painful. Clawed fingers laced together beneath the abundance of teeth. Even when Kouki opened his mouth, the words seemed to stick in his throat. His silence left the beast turning back to the footstool. "He can't even speak. He's not interesting, but he knows his place."

Something inside him surged at the repeated dismissal; the same kind of thing that surged when travellers mocked his brother's shyness or laughed at Taiga's love of dancing. It was one of the first times he felt it for himself though; offense at being dismissed. He was ordinary, yes, but a man so horrendous a witch saw fit to curse him had no room to talk. Better boring than cursed.

"As it happens," He started, and surprised himself. He wasn't Shun, his mouth didn't control him. Except now it seemed to try, and he was failing to stop it. "I like books too, but simpler ones. And I like dancing, and watching my brother paint, and caring for the animals. I like gardening too, and roses especially! If you didn't want me here, you shouldn't have forced me to come here for a rosebush that you won't even miss if you never even go outside."

Originally, he'd planned not to use the hermit card as a weapon, but the beast had left him no choice. He sucked in a deep breath as he finished, slightly nervous now it was over. Through the tirade he'd seen a spark of interest that had faded under a look of annoyance.

"It's not because I miss them that I won't give them away," He growled out. "It's because they're mine."

A sigh sounded from his side, a reassuring noise under all the intense, irked scrutiny focused on him.

"If you're a lord, you should have felt the same way about your people," He shot back, slightly terrified but seeing no other option. He had a vague feeling that if he backed down, he'd be much closer and much more personal with those teeth than he would strictly like to be (even if he in the same country was too close, and he was far closer than that). "And see that sharing isn't that bad."

For a very long time silence reigned, before Akashi nodded and reached out to pull of a long red cord that seemed to disappear into nowhere. He didn't break the silence until a large trolley with food came to them seemingly of its own volition with the teapot and cup on top of it. Now the tension was broken, he couldn't help but feel cheated that he'd gotten no reply. The table near the fireplace was moved closer until they could both reach it, and the plates moved to the table. They were light things, finger-foods and light drinks. Kouki scowled at them for a minute, taking out the annoyance on the food instead of a beast with very long claws. He reached out for a small chicken pastry, and bit into it. He was in a fowl mood.

After the light dinner he gained a book that he kept until the soft, oversized bed seemed to call to him from across the castle. He made to say his goodbyes as he set down the book, but was stopped when Akashi stood too. 

"I'll walk you to your rooms," He offered, slightly awkward. He kept his hands at his sides, and though it shouldn't have been his first thought, Kouki was grateful for the forethought. It wasn't a certainty he wouldn't run from those claws if they came anywhere near him. The halls back to his room held a slight chill, but the elegant fireplace in his bedroom held roaring flames already. With a nod, Akashi turned and left. Without thinking on it, Kouki washed in the basin near the window and crawled into his bed.

Come morning, he slept until far later than he thought was strictly polite for a guest to do. The blankets around him were a mess where he'd turned in his sleep, but the bright noon-day sun shone just far enough down them to avoid blinding him upon waking. Once out of bed, he found comfortable indoor clothing in the spacious wardrobes. After he dressed he took the time to look around, and stopped short at the table by the door. Roses, in a dozen different shades of purest white to deep red, in a crystal vase. His stomach felt like it did a tiny flip, and without the anger of not getting a reply, he was slightly more inclined towards the benefit of the doubt. He stopped to sniff at their fragrant scent before he pulled on his leather boots, fully intending to see the gardens even if Akashi no longer did.

For three days and four evenings he didn't see Akashi again, and became familiar with the gardens in its stead. Not far from his rooms was a small set of gardens filled mostly with a rainbow of roses and flowering magnolias. In lieu of trees, a small gazebo of dark wood was close to one of the corners, filled with a few seats and a small, pretty table. Most days he took his meals there in the shade away from the winter sun. Snow seemed not to touch the castle; even its gardens were frozen in time the way its inhabitants were. During the morning when he'd just taken to rummaging through a lavender bush for a few snippings to scent his pillow with, a noise from behind him made him look back.

"Hello," He tried for a second time, struck by the irony of it almost immediately. The joke wasn't lost on Akashi either, though his teeth shifting slightly during a smile did little for their appearance. "I haven't seen you out here before."

It was a stupid question, one he regretted almost instantly when the knowledge Akashi didn't leave the castle assaulted him very suddenly. It was followed by the question of why he was out now, but he couldn't bring himself to ask.

"There's usually very little to tempt me out into the gardens," Akashi replied, leaving the implication he was there for Kouki unsaid. "Being out in them again I still don't see the appeal, but someone else enjoying them is enjoyable to watch."

After that, Akashi seemed to appear more. On the following Tuesday, their dinner was grand and the table seemed to groan under the weight of the food. Part of him felt it was a waste, and he said as much, though quiet and hoping not to cause offense. His worries were waved away, and he gained a minor working knowledge of magic, how the castle supplied itself and its inhabitants, but disallowed them to communicate with anything or anyone outside of its gates. The roses would continue to flower forever and he'd never go hungry, but he'd also never send for new books or invite guests to travel and rest at his home in the summer. Partway through the conversation, regret started to creep onto Akashi's face, sparking guilt in Kouki's chest at having Akashi speak of people when they'd been the cause of his prolonged torture. 

A few days later, Akashi took him riding through the vast forest behind the castle, and pointed out plants and trees he had never seen before.

"You'd probably like brambles," Akashi offered, not seeming to notice how odd a comment it was. To Kouki, it was the first time Akashi had noted something about him that he hadn't blatantly spoken of. Thinking on it, he reached out to rummage in the bush, but before he could reach, Akashi was close to him with a hand on his wrist. The claws dug into his skin and the teeth made him want to run, but he was released a moment later. "But bramble bushes have horrible spikes."

Paying attention now, cringing at the cool, slightly weary tone, he took a look at them and agreed a hand full of brambles would have been horrendously painful. Striving to give up the awkward atmosphere, he pointed to a tree and asked to be told of it and its origins.

The winter seemed to pass quickly as the visits from Akashi came more frequently. More and more often he seemed to note things of little consequence: what topics Kouki often chose in books, or the meats he preferred, and his favourite shade of roses. 

"I wonder if he feels obligated," He asked one morning, sitting in the kitchens with Takao at his elbows. Fragrant orange tea curled up in ribbons of steam from inside of him, battling the scent of sweetmeat being worked up by Murasakibara. "To be nice to me, that is. In the same vein of giving me things to make me like him, he's showing an interest."

An amused look overtook Kuroko, who had placed himself on Kouki's other side.

"That is how most people go about making friends," He offered as if it was obvious, completely deadpan. "But Akashi isn't the type to do that because he has to. If he was capable of faking an interest, we wouldn't be here. And if anyone were capable of making him take an interest, I haven't met the man."

"He went into the gardens a while ago," Kise supplied helpfully, making all eyes turn to Kouki. He shrugged awkwardly, and tried to hide his presence by staring into his cup. On the table Midorima hummed softly, then left. He could have sworn Aomine almost shrugged when Kouki shot him a questioning look, despite having no shoulders. The hands that told the time were never correct on Aomine; even a stopped clock was right twice a day, but his lazily swished back and forth and backwards until it made Kouki dizzy to look at.

In his last weeks at the castle, he took another step forward, and reached out to put a hand on Akashi's shoulder when he was turned towards the bookshelves. Under his hand, the shoulder went completely tense before a tremor ran through them. He couldn't fathom how long it had been since he'd had human contact, and he couldn't tell if it was pity or empathy he felt.

"I'd like that one," He pointed, and took it when it was handed to him. When they both sat though, he didn't open his book. It took at least a dozen tries before he could get the words out. "I'll be going home soon."

The words seemed to change the entire atmosphere, and the sound of Akashi's book shutting was loud in the quiet library.

"Why?" Akashi asked, looking caught between offended and confused. "They let you come to a beast's castle, and they didn't even come to look for you."

Though technically true, it was he who'd chosen to leave.

"Even so, they're my family," Kouki tried, baring his palms in a gesture of honesty. It didn't help as Akashi stood, claws flexing at his sides. He looked nothing short of furious, but turned and left instead.

"He's not used to not getting his way," Kuroko supplied, and leaned against Kouki's ankle. "It took him six years to come to terms with being cursed."

"Thanks," Kouki replied, and couldn't focus on his book.

His departure, for what it was, was quiet and uneventful. He mounted the horse he'd come on, in riding leathers and strong boots. His satchels held nothing new besides provisions for the trip, and Akashi made no appearance.

"I told you he's stupid," Aomine drawled, and ended the conversation. The forest on the way back home was quiet save for the rustling of squirrels in the trees that dropped heavy acorns on his shoulders playfully until he tossed them back. For most of the way he allowed the horse to take the lead and guide him back home; it wasn't until they reached the village proper that he had to hold the reigns.

His home almost looked at the same he thought as he dismounted, with minor changes. The worst was his garden; dead from the winter, not blooming without his care and attention. It was only natural that all things die in winter, but his heart twisted in longing for gardens full of roses.

"Kouki!" His father's large hands fell on his shoulders from behind, and he looked like he'd been working the fields. He'd always liked to keep busy, particularly after the year he'd had too much bed rest due to an injury. It had sent him slightly insane, they'd all agreed. "I thought you'd never come back."

Worry was laced through the cheer, but his loud voice drew out his other three sons. They took their turns welcoming him home with embraces and greetings. Then they pried the story from him, and Shun's sly smirk seemed to grow with every mention of Akashi, but he said nothing of it. They continued on as normal, but it took him less than a day to realize normal had come to mean something entirely else for him. He lasted three days before he was packing without realizing.

"I can't believe I'm old enough for one of my sons to be flying the nest already," Teppei said from the doorway. He hardly looked old enough for it in Kouki's opinion either, but he supposed he was still quite young himself.

"I'm sorry," He murmured, and accepted the pats to his head and the comforts eagerly. Leaving home for a trip was something entirely different to leaving home on a whim and hoping he was allowed to stay after leaving the first time. His goodbye was grander this time, with extracted promises that he'd come back to visit frequently, and invite them to the wedding. He didn't remember most of the trip back to the castle, caught up in his own thoughts. His horse seemed content to be left outside the main doors to the castle.

"The gardens," Kise supplied helpfully when he paused in the grand entrance hall without an idea where to look for Akashi. After so long in the castle, he found his way to what he'd come to consider as his gardens easily. A few twigs cracked under the his feet as he approached Akashi's back. When he looked over his shoulder, his eyes widened and he stood. An awkward silence fell for a moment.

"I needed to let them know I was alright," Kouki offered first, and swallowed hard. When he still gained no reply, he stepped closer and closer until Akashi surged forwards to hold him. His head ended up on Akashi's chest thanks to the gazebo's heightened platform. "I missed you."

The arms around him tightened, and after a beat of silence Akashi seemed to come to a decision.

"I missed you too," He said as if it were difficult, and drew back to look him in the eye. "I'm sorry. I love you."

As confessions went it was anti-climactic, but everything about them had been anyway. Quiet, plain experiences made rich by being together. He nodded his agreement, whispering an I love you of his own. At the words Akashi dropped to his knees as if in pain, curling an arm around his stomach. His skin bubbled like an overheating pot, but the ruddy fur withdrew, and the teeth retracted until there was a normal, human amount of them. Fingers made of flesh hooked unto the holes made by claws, and Kouki inanely thought that he'd expected Akashi to be taller as a human. As it was, when he stepped off the gazebo, they were face to face. Without a word he surged forwards for a kiss, breaking it only when he needed to breathe.

"Oh," He breathed out, sparking a curious look from Akashi. A teasing smile settled on his face. "My brothers want invites to thw wedding." 

Despite it being a joke, he could almost see the wheels starting to turn in Akashi's mind, and the joy that came with the conclusion of marriage being forever.


End file.
